Birmingham v West Ham preview

05 November 2010 10:23

Team news for Saturday's Premier League clash between Birmingham and West Ham at St Andrew's.

Birmingham will give a late fitness test to central defender Roger Johnson ahead of the game.

The former Cardiff player suffered an ankle injury during last weekend's goalless draw at Aston Villa and has been unable to train all week.

If Johnson is ruled out, Martin Jiranek is the obvious candidate to replace him providing he shakes off a thigh strain. If Jiranek is also unfit, Liam Ridgewell would probably switch from left-back with Stuart Parnaby replacing him on the flank.

England defender Matthew Upson could return to West Ham's starting line-up for their trip to St Andrew's.

Upson missed last weekend's defeat at Arsenal with a hamstring problem and could be fit to play, but manager Avram Grant will be without Julien Faubert who starts a three-game suspension.

Also unavailable to Grant are midfielder trio Jack Collison (knee), Thomas Hitzlsperger (thigh) and Mark Noble (appendix), while Tal Ben Haim (foot) and Zavon Hines (knee) are also out and Junior Stanislas (groin) is doubtful.